Welcome to the GVI Thailand Environmental Project blog, where you will be able to find out the latest news on our project helping a local community return rescued elephants into the forest.

Global Vision International (GVI) is a non-political, non-religious organisation, which through its alliance with over 150 project partners in over 30 countries, provides opportunities for volunteers to fill a critical void in the fields of environmental research, conservation, education and community development.

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Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Last weekend, GVI staff and volunteers slept out in the
forest for 2 days to raise money for the Song Kran fund. The Song Kran fund
hopes to gain money to put mahouts through ethical elephant training and raise
money to build a clinic for elephants in the village in case there’s any
emergency. . GVI staff and volunteers asked friends and family to donate to the
cause via social media.

A major point of the sleep out was learning to take care of
ourselves at our makeshift base in the forest; cooking surviving at our home in
the forest. However, the mahouts don’t seem to think we, as volunteers, can do
anything right and they ended up doing a lot of the things we wanted to try to
do ourselves. However, each opportunity the volunteers observed what the
mahouts were doing. We watched Jordoh make bamboo cups and bamboo spoons and
then all the volunteers took turns trying to make a bamboo spoon. For a while,
the mahouts left and when Jordoh came back, he threw all the spoons the
volunteers made away and made a new set; so at least we can say we tried even
though they were not mahout approved spoons. Boon Chew and Suhwit loaned us their
machetes to make bamboo cups. And Dee laid out a tarp for us to sleep on.

Volunteers had a little more success cooking. A few
volunteers were actually able to keep a fire going and Friday, when we arrived
in the forest, we managed to make a lunch of mashed potatoes and noodles for
ourselves and Dee and Jordoh; they seemed a little wary of the mashed potatoes.
However, with the exception of making fried rice on Saturday, the mahouts
cooked all our meals; not that anyone was complaining because we got to eat Dee’s
pumpkin and the mahouts made us chicken. After cooking each time, the mahouts
tried to take the dishes down to the river to wash but all volunteers managed
to hold them off in the task.

One of the unforeseen highlights of the sleep out was how
much time we got to spend with the mahouts; even though from their standpoint
they probably thought they were babysitting us. Friday night, all, if not most,
of the mahouts were with us in the forest for dinner; a few left a few hours
later after hiking to go to bed in the village. So at least we can say we slept
out in the forest when some of the mahouts will not. The mahouts who did sleep
in the forest with us slept around the
campfire. We all had fun drinking hot chocolate with the mahouts and having
them teach us how to properly use a slingshot.

All in all, the sleep out was a success. No one got hurt and
we got to, at least, observe some survival skills the mahouts displayed on our
sleep out. It wasn’t quite what we planned for but what in life is ever what we
think it will be?

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Quotes from the field

"An incredible experience. Volunteering with elephants is one of the best experiences in my life, to see the elephants in their natural environment was something I will never forget."
Rob Smith, UK, May 2010 Volunteer

"The Karen people were extremely friendly and our host family made us feel very welcome. The highlight of the trip though was taking a short trek into the jungle and being able to witness the elephants roaming free in their natural habitat, overall it was a great experience and definitely something I would do again."
Danny Keagan, UK, May 2010 Volunteeer